Open Road in Black

[fedoralover]

I actually found an Open Road Stetson Royal Deluxe that was in Black on ebay. So they do exist but just seem to be rare. Had a wind string and except for 2 moth nibbles was in very good condition. No need for pics as it looks like any other Open Road Stetson except it's black.

fedoralover

 

[jamespowers]

Hmmm... Now you are Black Bart Fed.
Good find. They are not exactly running around in herds. Black in any type of fedora is tough to find. Then again, so is white.

Regards to all,

J

 

[MattC]

Puzzling about a black open road

Fedoralover--

I got an older black Open Road a little while back. Well, an open road in the sense that it is identical in finish, dimensions and details to a silver belly 3x open road that I have that is likely from the 70s (still nice pliable felt, long oval size, wide leather sweat band stamped "Open Road") The black one, however, does not say "open road" it says "The sovereign" and the Stetson logo in the liner looks like more recent ones. On the othere hand, it is a "5/8 Long Oval" and I though they stopped using that kind of size a long time ago. Anyway, its a nice hat.

 

[fedoralover]

I guess one has to differentiate between a hat that is an "Open Road" and an Open Road style. Stetson made both and set side by side unless you read what it said on the sweatband you wouldn't know the difference. They are essentially the same hat, but I'm sure for marketing purposes they put different names on them. Either way, an Open Road or an Open Road style in black is just not that common.

regards fedoralover

 

[Flick]

Please forgive my ignorance, but were the Open Road series always (for lack of what to call the style) cowboy style hats, or were they ever a pinch front like a fedora?

 

[Wild Root]

Some people wore them like a cowboy hat. Some wore them like a fedora. The Open road has always been a very sporty styled hat in my mind. A hat that looks good in a classy convertible with the top down cursing along a well, “Open Road�.

Cheers,

Root.

 

[MattC]

Cowboy or fedora

Until recent years, open roads (like a lot of hats) tended to be sold with an open crown and then hand creased at the store (usually with steam) or by the buyer at home (often without). I tend to wear them like fedoras.

 

[Canadave]

Until recent years, open roads (like a lot of hats) tended to be sold with an open crown and then hand creased at the store (usually with steam) or by the buyer at home (often without). I tend to wear them like fedoras.

Then what makes it an "Open Road"?

David

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I didnot know Open Roads came in black, till I read this thread. Then I wondered if they were rare. While I was at Miller Hats the other day I saw that they had about 12 boxes marked Stetson Open Road Black. In response to my questions the kid that works there indicated that they can't get rid of them. I asked if he could give me a better price than the $130 price. He would'nt budge on the price. I went to www.millerhats.com and noticed that the black Open Road is listed as an option.

 

[fedoralover]

When I got an Imperial Stetson Open Road from the 50s, I was anxious to compare it the new ones. I went to a Western Outfitters store and held them side by side. One of the store employees was there and right away he commented "you can tell they don't make them like they used to". An understatement indeed. The new ones I've seen have poor stitching, inferior very stiff felt, and glued in liners.

I have some Stetson Open Road hat ads from old Esquire magazines and they are always in the Silver belly color. But occasionally one thats labled as Open Road or is in the Open Road Style that is black floats to the surface on ebay.

fedoralover

 

[MattC]

What an Open Road Is; Black is common now

"Open Road" is the name of a Stetson model. But it is a style that many other hat makers produced as well. Essentially, a wide (2.75" or so) brim, usually kind of flat (not snapping in the front, just dipping a little, not rising sharply in the back, but just a little), with a fairly tall, mildly tapered crown. Usually has a wind trolley. In classic cowboy style, you bash the crown in the center, and then put two long even dents on both sides. For fedora style, you can either do a center dent with or without pinches, or do a high C crown. The hat has a very narrow ribbon (.25") and the brim edge is bound in matching grossgrain. Stetson made them in lots of different levels of felt quality (3x, Royal, Imperial)

Stetson Stratoliners were very similar hats. Typically had a narrower brim (2.5 inches), I think a slightly lower crown, and most don't have wind trolleys. Stratoliners are more often creased as fedoras. Same narrow ribbon and matching edge on the brim. I also think they came in a narrower range of quality--all the one's I've seen were Royal Stetsons. Other companies made similar hats as well (Bee made a "Strato" and the Penny's Marathon is very similar).

Black Open Roads got common after Stetson started making them out of thin cheap felt full of stiffener. Older ones are very hard to find.

I've never seen a black Stratoliner. I have a gorgeous light blue Stratoliner that Graham Thompson blocked as a C crown for me. Its a prize.

 

[MattC]

One detail forgotton

On Stratoliners, the brim tends to behave more like a traditional fedora, snapping down in front and rising in the back.

 

[jamespowers]

Simply, a vintage Open Road (1949)looks like this:

Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

A 1946 Stratoliner looks like this:

:cheers1:
Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

By the way, Flick, is that an ad for one of my favorites---Dobbs Gamebird?

Regards to all,

J

 

[fedoralover]

MattC, If you are able to post pics of the light blue Stratoliner, I'd love to see it. I've had 5 Stratoliners and your description pretty much fits what I've observed as well. However I did see a Royal Deluxe Stratoliner come up on ebay once and was really surprised as all the others I've seen have been just as you said "Royals". And believe it not I did see one black one a few years back, but it was too small for me.

regards fedoralover

 

[MattC]

I'm on my way out of the US for a couple of weeks...but when I get back I'll make my partner show me how to use the camera, and I'll get a picture or two posted. As I said, its a prize to me. Truth be told, I like the lines of the Stratoliner a little better than the Open Road, but I figure I can mold the brim on the open road. I have a Borsalino that has almost the same specs as the Stratoliner.

 

[jamespowers]

I'm on my way out of the US for a couple of weeks...but when I get back I'll make my partner show me how to use the camera, and I'll get a picture or two posted. As I said, its a prize to me. Truth be told, I like the lines of the Stratoliner a little better than the Open Road, but I figure I can mold the brim on the open road. I have a Borsalino that has almost the same specs as the Stratoliner.

Very good, we will be awaiting the pictures.
Good call on the Borsalino. They do look very similar. I took a picture of the wife's Borsailno that looks just as you noticed. Do they look similar?:

I sure think so.
I am also partial to the Stratoliner over the Open Road but I have a few Open Roads that have been reblocked to look like the Stratoliner anyway.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Canadave]

...the kid that works there indicated that they can't get rid of them. I asked if he could give me a better price than the $130 price. He would'nt budge on the price...

That's quite the businessman. Retain the price, sell none. Mark them down? No way!

David

 

[MattC]

Beautiful Borso

Beautiful hat. Yeah, that's the hat with lines similar to the Stratoliner. Maybe a little more tapered, maybe the brim a little wider. Very nice hat.